


Hello darkness, my old friend

by KuroHikaTsuchi



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Crossover, Dimension Travel, Gen, POV Outsider, Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-18 23:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22201273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroHikaTsuchi/pseuds/KuroHikaTsuchi
Summary: In which Kiba makes a new friend and acquires blackmail.
Relationships: Inuzuka Kiba & Akamaru (Naruto) & Original Dog Character, Inuzuka Kiba & Nara Shikako, Inuzuka Kiba & Nara Shikako & Nico di Angelo, Nara Shikako & Nico di Angelo
Comments: 14
Kudos: 254
Collections: Dreaming of Sunshine Exchange 2019 B, Heliocentrism — a Dreaming of Sunshine recursive collection





	Hello darkness, my old friend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [forluck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/forluck/gifts).



> Thanks to JohnBurtonLee for betaing!

_What the fuck?_ Kiba didn’t know how he got into this situation. It was _supposed_ to be a normal mission. Of course, the chances of a mission going to plan when one of the Lucky Sevens were involved were close to zero. It was practically legendary at this point. Although, usually when missions turned bad it had something to do with enemy action not strangers and their pets appearing out of nowhere. 

And it had started out so well! He was on a routine C-rank with Shikako and Akamaru, delivering a scroll to border patrol. They had even completed the mission! All they had left to do was return to the village and complete the paperwork. _Bleh, paperwork._ Then, all of a sudden, the shadows in front of them darkened and solidified to form a humanoid figure. 

It looked like a kid. Sure it smelled kind of weird, like smoke and rotten eggs. But, it had the regular body parts associated to humans so it _probably_ wasn’t an Eldritch abomination. The kid, because he couldn’t be any older than eleven, looked scratched up to hell and was swaying as if he would pass out any second. He wore a dark brown leather jacket with a white fur collar over a black t-shirt with a white skull. Black pants made of a weird material -- and so full of holes he couldn’t see how it was in any way practical -- completed the outfit. On top of that, he was holding a sword, which Kiba realized he _probably_ should’ve paid attention to sooner. 

The kid’s head swiveled taking in his surroundings before stopping in Shikako’s direction. A look of relief spread over his previously panicked face and he cried out her name. 

“Nico!” she answered in kind before hugging him. She gave him a once-over, checking for any serious injuries and started talking to him in some sort of code. It didn’t even sound like a normal language! The kid, Nico, though seemed to know it too as he answered using the same strange language. 

Before Kiba could question them, the shadows started wriggling in the same way they had when the kid had appeared in front of them. Nico cried out a warning and stood in a defensive position while Shikako pushed him behind her and armed herself with kunai. Kiba and Akamaru closed ranks from both sides. 

The shadows darkened before solidifying yet again and a huge black mass flew out of it. The mass took the shape of a giant dog, even bigger than Kuromaru! It looked seriously pissed off, frothing at the mouth while staring directly at the kid. 

Before anyone could attack it, Akamaru growled lowly at the interloper and started barking. To everyone’s surprise (except his, because c’mon! Akamaru is the best partner anyone could have!) the dog stopped in its tracks and sat down, almost causing a minor earthquake. 

Taking the opportunity, Shikako grabbed the kid and pulled him further away from the beast. _Looks like she’s got everything under control._ Leaving them to their own devices, Kiba went over to where Akamaru was lecturing the giant dog. 

The beast was sitting hunched on itself, softly whining and giving off the impression of a kicked puppy. It was a comical sight considering its sheer body mass and frightening appearance. The black mastiff with glowing red eyes was only slightly smaller than a bear but looked perfectly capable of killing one if given the chance. 

“Hey, Akamaru! Getting along with our new friend?” 

“ARF!” he responded, clearly conveying “ _Of course, who do you take me for? Inushi-chan knows who’s the boss!”_

“Well, hello there Inushi! You’re not going to be causing any more trouble now, are you, girl?” 

She shifted her weight forward and her tail bounced from side to side in excitement, shaking the entire clearing. She yipped: “ _I promise I’ll be good! Can I have treats? Who are you? I want to play! Are you Akamaru-sama’s pet?”._

“I’m no one’s pet! Akamaru and I are partners! You hear that?” Kiba bristled and growled. Akamaru just chortled and didn’t bother correcting her. 

“I can’t believe it! Betrayed by my best friend!” Kiba playfully spat out before huffing and turning away from them. He still kept an ear on their conversation but he chose to observe the newcomer instead. Across the clearing, Shikako was talking softly with the kid, her palms glowing green as she healed his injuries. When she was done, they made their way over to Kiba and their canine companions. Shikako waved him over. 

“Hey, Kiba! I’d like you to meet my cousin Nico. He lives in one of the Nara farms outside Konoha. He’s not supposed to be out and about, but he got scared by the dog and ran off on his own. He managed to sense that I was nearby so he came running to us.” 

“Hiya Nico! It’s nice to meet another Nara!” he greeted. Kiba wouldn’t have guessed that Nico was a Nara since he looked so different from the twins, but, hey, he could control shadows and that was definitely a Nara specialty. Besides, it wasn’t like he knew any Nara farmers. Maybe they all looked like Nico, how would _he_ know? 

Nico stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment until Shikako elbowed him. That prompted him to answer in a slow, slightly stilted manner: “Hello. I’m Nico. Nice to meet you.” He then looked down at the ground and turned away from them. 

“Ugh… did I do something to offend your cousin, Shikako?” Kiba’s brow furrowed as he tried to recall what he’d done recently. Hana-nee often reprimanded him for being an insensitive moron. 

Shikako shook her head. 

“Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with you. He’s just shy… and shook up from running from that dog. What’s the story there anyway? Akamaru seems to have it handled, right?” 

“Well, this is Inushi. She has agreed to come back with us to Konoha peacefully. Apparently, she’s getting offended that the kids she chases around never want to play with her,” Kiba said while rolling his eyes. 

“I guess we’ll be traveling back with our new companion then,” Shikako mused before approaching Inushi. The massive dog trotted over to her and sniffed the presented hand. Then she leaned over and licked Shikako’s face, leaving slobber all over her face and hair. 

Kiba burst out laughing at her dismay and exclamation of “Gross!” and Akamaru was chortling. Hell, even the kid was snickering, hiding it behind his hand. 

Shikako tried to wipe away the saliva but it was a futile endeavor. She finally stopped when she realized that it was only getting worse. She sighed as she looked at her laughing entourage. 

“Haha, go ahead and laugh. If you’re done, I’m gonna take back Nico to his home and wash off the saliva in the meantime. Are you okay to stay here with Inushi, Kiba? I don’t want her to scare everyone at the farm and I should probably get my cousin back home before they notice him missing or else he’ll get in a lot of trouble.” 

It took a few seconds for Kiba to be able to stop laughing and answer her question. 

“Sure, Shikako! I’ll hold down the fort here. You go on and get a shower or something!” he said in between snickers. 

“Ugh… stop laughing already! Alright, I’ll meet you back here in one hour.” 

“Ok! Bye, Shikako’s cousin! It was nice to meetcha!” he grinned as he waved. 

Nico waved back, the slight upturn of his lip betraying his amusement at the situation. Then, Shikako grabbed him and shushined away, leaving the field empty except for Kiba and his two canine friends. 

* * *

As soon as they reached an isolated location, Nico shadow-travelled back to New York. It was a shame that he couldn’t stay longer, but she understood that everyone had their own obligations. When she first met him was actually the first time he shadow-travelled over a long distance. He had had a lot of trouble with his new skill, ending up lost in the strangest of places. Somehow, his usually ended up right next to her when he tried those long-distance jumps. A friendship grew out of their frequent meetings, their shared control of shadows and the fact that she was the only English speaker in the Elemental Nations. 

Shikako picked up her pace. At least not having to accompany him to the Nara farm, as she had told Kiba she would, left her with plenty of time to wash off the supernatural slime clinging to her hair. 

Her first meeting with a hellhound had gone very differently from what she had imagined based on Nico’s stories. As he explained to her, hellhounds were usually bloodthirsty beasts that liked to chase demigods. He had been trying to shake Inushi off his scent but she was persistent in her pursuit. It really was a stroke of luck that Inushi turned out to be an unusually friendly hellhound. 

It was doubly lucky that the Mist didn’t seem to extend to the Elemental Nations. The exact metaphysics behind this phenomenon escaped her, but she theorized that Hecate probably didn’t have any influence in her world. At least, that spared her some pointed questions if the Inuzuka realized that the hellhound looked like a small poodle to the civilians. 

* * *

When Shikako got back to the rendez-vous point, it was to find Akamaru and Inushi play-fighting and Kiba observing them from where he was leaning against a tree. 

“Finally! We good to go then?” he asked her, pushing himself upright. 

“Yep! One cousin delivered to the destination. We can head home now.” 

“So did you manage to wash it all off?” he asked slyly. 

“Yes. Now come on, we need to get going,” she bit out through gritted teeth. _Ugh, Kiba’s taking too much pleasure in my misery. I wish he would just forget everything that happened._

“Oh, man! Wait until everyone hears how the great Shikabane-hime was defeated by a simple dog! I’m never going to let you live it down!” 

Kiba wisely sped off in the direction of the village, cackling the whole way, as an irritated Shikako gave him chase, followed by the two dogs. 


End file.
